After the Death of Anna Gonzales

I have a lot of feelings about this book-written-in-poetry form, that is and isn't a ballad because it's written in tiny monologues divided as chapters. The characters being so multifaceted and their reactions so different, how the ones who are and aren't related are layered so you are piecing it together across a whole body and faculty and not all at once was wonderful.

When a student at the high school commits suicide the death effects everyone at the school. Students and teachers alike are both given pages to express their emotions and personal relationship with the girl who took her life. The poems each resonate as important and meaningful, but as a collection it is impossible to overlook how this one girl's tragic choice effected so many.

When the principal announces that a student, Anna Gonzales, has taken her own life, students and faculty at the school react in many different ways. The book is written from the perspective of dozens of different people at the school.

This book makes you think.

This was an excellent novel. It really tells the story of the people left in the aftermath of a young girl's death. I felt like it was m school, and the characters were my friends and classmates. a truly moving novel that was a quick easy read. i recommend for ages 12-15. It can be read in a day. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.